Add a fourth C for "complexity". Planning a WDW vacation is now a part-time job for all but the most experienced enthusiasts. How many guests show up for their dream vacation only to be blindsided by how many of the offerings are not accessible to them because they failed to nail down dining reservations months in advance, or weren't aware of the virtual queue system for the most popular attractions?
In all truthfulness, due to visiting from Australia during covid, having to calendarize when I could start looking for dining reservations (and finding most of the ones I wanted always gone), the cost and complexity of Genie Plus and Lightning Lane - I had a mini breakdown one day while in Epcot. I'm an EXPERIENCED theme park attendee and had been studying the new systems for months/years and even I found it too much. What sucks for a basic day guest is you cannot just choose in the morning to swing by WDW and visit a park and have a decent meal. It all has to be pre-planned months, if not a year in advance. That's a JOB, and I already have one of those.
Every time I've gone to WDW the past few years, it's been like this. It felt more like a job and a chore rather than having a fun outing with the family. When we went to Universal, we just felt we could relax and walk around and enjoy ourselves. We've not gone back to WDW since.
I highly agree. Disney is the last place where I want to feel glued to my phone, but you kind of have to in order to get your ride reservations and such.
Too expensive, too crowded, attractions are always down, loss of perks, attitudes of both the cast members and customers are terrible, It's just not a very enjoyable time anymore.
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3odDollywood has ever bit as good employees if not better! There’s a reason why it was once again named the Best Park in world by Golden Ticket!
I agree with you 100%. I went in 2023 and compared to the last time I went in 2012. WDW has really, really gone down the toilet. It's not just a few things that have gone wrong. but every thing has. It's just AWFUL down there.
i disagree with the sentiment that wdw was "always expensive". my family started going...all the time...in the 80's and 90's. during that time, rooms were laughably cheap. tickets were cheaper than amusement parks like cedar point. food - burgers were on par with mcdonald's prices. if anything, during that period, disney was underpriced.
Yeah something like 10 years ago moderate resorts were like $140-150/night during the "value time" (or whatever they called their slow period) and that was the rack rate, before any discounts which there always seemed to be 30% discounts.
It depends if flights were needed. Also, for that time, it was expensive relatively. Much cheaper than today, but still much more than a trip to Cedar Point or Great Adventure. You don't get the same atmosphere but a better ride selection. Heck Sea World offers a better coaster selection than Animal Kingdom has total rides. Epic Universe will open with more rides than many Florida Disney parks have still, with the same level of theming. So why do Disney when a Universal pass offers more for the same/similar price?
That’s not an accurate way to look at it though, because the cost of all entertainment (especially theme parks and hotels/resorts which are Disney parks main competition) have all outpaced inflation. Yes Disney has absolutely outpaced inflation but so has every comparable alternative If crowding remains an issue, then that obviously means the parks are selling out regardless of cost. So why would Disney not continue raising prices?
Yeah it was “expensive” but like you said - you could make it work. Now it’s exorbitant! My Mom complained that she went to Thailand for the cost of going to Disney for 4 days. That’s insane.
The main issue I'm concerned about is that as prices continue to rise, some people will inevitably keep paying to go, meaning the issue wont just fix itself. Unfortunately, those with smaller incomes will become pushed away from Disney as they can no longer afford tickets, disney accommodation, Genie+, and general costs within the park.
Those unable to afford ever increasing Disney prices will miss seeing attractions that aren't working, overflowing trash bins, two hour plus wait times... I could go on, but the bottom line is I don't see where people who actually can afford to go to Disney are the winners here.
@@TJ347not sure what you’re talking about. Maybe this is true during the holidays but I have rarely seen rides at 2 hr waits and overflowing trash cans… I have seen rides closed but that is only their new rides and it usually doesn’t last long. Universal experiences the same issues and is just as expensive… people are just hating on Disney to hate on them.
@@tulinfirenze1990 From my understanding, the Hulu deal between Disney and Comcast/Universal will basically finance the construction of Epic Universe. Back during the post Euro Disney downsizing, Universal scooped up many Walt Disney Imagineers resulting in Universal's Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay. The altruism of the Walt Disney Company toward Universal is truly epic.
Ugh.. WHY? As if Disney doesn't have enough money to make an actual solution, nope. Just ship the crowds out to another park Walt AND Roy would be disgusted. They built these parks.
@@ZeranZeran Bob Iger's priority is to invest in the Asian parks and resorts, not Walt Disney World. If Florida tourists are unhappy with their Disney experience, they can visit Universal. But, if they want an authentic Disney experience, they can visit Asia.
It's getting worse and more expensive because Disney has put it's focus on attracting higher income families to come to Disney world instead of it being centered on normal families.
Sadly this is happening with nearly all forms of entertainment, including movies, games, and special events. Corporations have learned that they can make more money off of the top 10% of families who overspend and have more time and money than they know what to do with.
They’re only able to get away with this cause they have no direct competition. Atleast not yet. Universal is getting close but it’s still not big enough to threaten Disney. A future business would have to be created that caters to lower income families that can provide a similar customer experince to Disney for less than half the price. That would cause Disney to start losing customers and they’d have to stop overpricing in order to compete.
There's hope. Disney is Dead, I am waiting for the New City of Jerusalem that comes down from Heaven, pray that your worthy to enter in. For details about the happiest place read below: 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. [Rev 21:1-8 KJV]
I think Disney has lost its creative integrity. Everything new has to be based on preexisting IP, nothing new or innovative at all like Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Journey Into Imagination, etc, no new characters unique to just the parks. Its become so tired and boring. Now the parks just feel like a large marketing machine like Six Flags.
@@EugenioGrant I never said I was against IP in general. Its just the fact that its all they do these days with no originality. In the old days it was a balance between IP and original attractions.
I do agree about the IP overload, I mean my only exceptions are Pandora, Galaxy’s Edge, and Cosmic Rewind because they were either done right compared to other recent additions, or just found a way to fit in with the park. But everything else just seems…… unfitting and unnecessary.
I do see from where you come from, but that is just how Universal got its own footing and how they are going to take down Disney with Epic Universe Hell they are even reviving the Dark Universe just for the theme parks, and yes we will get some non-IP attractions, but they're not the focus, their focus is on Super Nintendo World, Isle of Berk, Dark Universe and yet another Wizarding World zone Yes, Disney had a philosophy decades ago about original attractions but they have to adapt to what the industry (and the public) are looking for, and if that means making more IP Lands and attractions, that is what they'll have to do to survive
@@itzKeizo no, they’re sticking to IP just to be safe and have guaranteed money makers. Because they’re too scared to take any risks and do anything new.
I commented in the UA-cam series DSNY newscast ideas to help budget the average Disney guest. Lightning lane, buy two get one free. My main one was ,Disney Express bussing from the Orlando Airport to Disney Springs no matter which Disney property, good neighbor, or area hotel you were staying. Guests can easily transfer by bus to their on property hotel, or boat ride to Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans, or Old Key West, or walk to Disney Springs good neighbor hotels. It will also be a fraction of a cost for rideshare to get from Disney Springs to their hotel, rather than the Orlando airport to their hotel. On a separate note, I thought that advertising from the mid 2000s back was more meaningful and touching. Whereas now it just feels like another advertisement on TV. Disneys advertising draw used to be more captivating. The mid 1990’s “Remember the Magic” was a captivating example. It had its own theme song, and the guest emotions were genuinely captured on film that is genuine advertising.
The quality of the park itself was never really an issue. The problem is that the quality you get is no longer worth the price you pay. For example: I come from a family of 6, a bit larger than most, and that naturally makes vacations more expensive for us. In 2013, it cost us $5000 to go to Disney - expensive, but worth saving up for. Now, that vacation would easily exceed $10,000…and *no one* can justify spending that much on a single vacation, no matter how good it is.
I used to think I'd be able to afford a trip to disneyworld And recently I've genuinely come to the conclusion I definitely never will and it's very disappointing
I went a few times a decade ago but I'm in a similar boat now. There's a ton of stuff I'd love to experience at Disney World that I either missed out on in the past or is relatively new but there's no way I can afford it.
The more time that passes the more I think Eisner got a bad wrap in the end. HALF of the most loved things of Disney were bc of Eisner. Eisner ran into problems when he lost his confidence and stopped thinking and doing BIG. He pushed the brakes when he should have gassed it, then sharks smelled blood in the water and attacked. I really am starting to think everything done after Eisner has been worse than the mistakes Eisner is remembered for. (And I have a deep hatred of California adventure so that is saying a lot). The mess Disney is in is 100% caused by post Eisner management. Disney is about greed and the bottom line now not magic and creativity like before.
100% agree. For all his flaws, at least Eisner had creativity and willingness to try new things which is something imo modern disney is really falling short on
I partly agree and I like the Eisner era, I like some of his decision-making (especially a lot of his creativity-first decision-making) and I prefer that era to the current era. At least Disney had a real identity at the time. Whereas now I see Disney Plus being advertised with The Kardashians. Which to me feels like the brand just doesn't mean anything anymore. However, much of the good stuff during the Eisner era did not happen BECAUSE of Eisner, but in spite of him. Much of his reputation is unfair and negatively narrativized in hindsight. But much of it was fair too. His reign was a pretty mixed bag. I just don't understand much of the adamant simping for Iger that is still happening compared to Eisner.
Michael Eisner and Frank Wells were a great team. They balanced each other out and led the Disney decade in the 90s, undoubtedly the best WDW expansion in history. We’ll never see anything like that again.
Disney world used to be a fun well vacation, now it's so much work it's so confusing, it used to be a destination you could go and leave your stress at home and literally just experience the magic and recharge, now it's so much work and everything requires you full attention and you have to be on your phone constantly, it's all work and anxiety and ends up being more stress than the stress you had at home
Could not agree more, it is like being a phone slave all day, and even then it can be very wasteful and a disappointment. Nothing worse than playing with your phone to get the extra charges of gene-, then have the ride break down and they leave you in line for 30 minutes with zero recourse. It really happened to me and my son, twice in one day. Went to customer service (35 minutes in a slllooowww line) They gave me paper fast passes for lightening lanes to try to "fix" me. The workers at one of the places I used the paper pass actually said "Oh you are one of those!" Which caused others in the line to quiz me and my son on what did that mean!!!!! Horrible way to treat a guest, but I believe Disney thinks we are all marks now for taking money from. WCDB
DVC member here, over the course of our ownership, time spent at Disney World property itself has drastically dropped. First blow was the elimination of Magical Express, which honestly led us to use cars either a rental or our own, which then led to Universal trips, which led to eventual Annual Pass purchase to Universal, which is a better value. Small penny pinching decisions by the Company lead to bigger loss, that is the cause of the downfall.
Getting rid of the Magical Express seems like crazy penny pinching, it can't possibly have been that expensive to run compared to the benefit of keeping people onsite.
More expensive, more complicated, more lines, and more stuff you have to do in the app. This might make me seem like a boomer, but the amount of time you have to stare at your phone is so much that you don't get to absorb the ambiance. I'm as addicted to my phone as anyone, but on vacation, I want to put my phone away. They can turn it around, but they have to make some huge announcements at D23, or Iger needs to go.
The only way that Disney will improve is to stop with making everything a money grab, especially things that were included free with your admission such as fast pass. This is not Walt envisioned when he opened the parks long ago!
Not going to happen! Disney only cares about its stock and how much money it can make to show growth to its investors! Long as fools keep buying into their products and paying outrageous prices for it there’s no reason from them to reduce prices!
If Disney hadn’t started to nickle and dime me for visits I’d still be an out-of-state season pass holder for a family of 4. Honestly, without all the post Covid changes I’d be ok with the ticket prices for what we used to get. Now, I spend a fraction elsewhere and have a better time with my family. And for the record, while I’m sure Disney doesn’t care, we were spending 3-4K a trip in addition to $5,000 a year for passes. And we went 3-4 times a year. So yeah, we were fans who loved eating at the best restaurants and doing the mark up experiences across the board. Now, we spend less a year to visit Universal and other parks around the country than Disney cost us for 1 visit plus our passes. So we’re getting the same number of vacations a year at a cost of around 40% of what we used to spend exclusively at Disney. And honestly, I’m glad Disney removed the value because it’s been more fun. Bonus though, as we were such fans we have a great Disney rewards credit card. So since 2020 we did visit for 1 day last year, for free tickets and 80% of our meals paid for including a fine dinning sit down dinner at Epcot. As this allows us to spend an off day every few years to experience new attractions that’s great. In 3 years or so, we’ll return for another day during an off day from Universal and their new park which I guarantee, we’ll be visiting next year for our 4th Universal week in an annual row. Yeah, Universal has become a must do annually for my kids. I think that says the most when 2 young kids prefer Universal over Disney when they don’t consider financial return whatsoever.
Re: competing in the next five years - i dont think they’ve got anything to compete with. They blew their wad on Galaxy’s Edge, they can’t build a Marvel land, and even if they had another franchise that would build as much buzz, they don’t have the creativity internally to pull it off.
As a working-class family in the 2000’s, in the UK, we used to be able to afford a two-week trip every two years with a dining plan. We always stayed at the moderate resorts and had some money spare to buy merchandise. If I were to book a holiday now with the same plan, without spending money, the price is over double in real terms (and this is without spending money and tip money). It’s not a viable holiday option for many families anymore, even with scraping pennies together. The last time I visited Florida was 2018, where I visited Universal. It came to be the only option where we could afford all the extras without being short for spending and tips. It’s a shame that Disney continues to keep their customers digging in their pockets for services that used to be free, and services that certainly helped holidaymakers coming from abroad (cough cough magic express). I would love to experience the new magic they’re adding to the park. It all looks amazing! However, it is no longer something I could comfortably afford, even with a decent salary.
A significant number of these people are the kind who fit several categories: A - They've never been but feel that it's a ritual and they HAVE to go at least once. They pay and go once. Done! The issue is that there are so many of this kind out there. It's a neverending thing. B - They've been there before but they plan to throw in the towel. They go once. They KNOW it stinks. They know about all the issues that others have complained about for the last 2-3 years. But they still feel like getting one last trip in anyway. C - They just won't admit reality. These are the ones who are the meanest, loudest, rudest you meet on vacation forums. They always get offended and shout when someone dares to criticize their precious Disney. They refuse to see reality: prices are outrageous (they claim it's because it's not cheap to run anything; then explain why rides keep breaking down and people are complaining that everything is being neglected? i.e. trash everywhere, lack of service, lack of maintenance, etc.). They are enchanted and blinded by the pixie dust and will continue to spend spend and spend even if a ticket price hits $150 on a "low crowd day". And trust me, it will. I suspect many are recent fans who probably visited in the early 2000s just before things started going downhill. I've been twice: in 1988 and 2003. Even back in 2003, I noticed neglect in the parks: the track on the PeopleMover was already in very bad shape. The food wasn't great either and ticket prices were so steep I could only afford a 2 day ticket, not 3 days. Then in 2019, I TRIED to plan a vacation. The ticket prices FLOORED me. I gave up and went to Universal's website. It saved me about $500 just on ticket and hotel room. We're not including food and travel expenses. And I went alone. That means a family of 3 might have saved $1,200 going to Universal in 2020 instead of Disney! These kinds of superfans are the ones who will keep going even if Disney charged the earth for a measly ticket. I bet they account for a significant chunk of the crowds.
Where else CAN we go. Six Flags Atlanta is always down. If there's a single raindrop in the sky, everything goes down for hours because it keeps costs low.
Last month, I went on Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway….the queue is DISGUSTING. Carpet is stained all over…when there is carpet. There are large sections where it’s threadbare…you can literally see the concrete.
I will say nothing has convinced me about the decline of Disney then Disney itself. I became a passholder about a year ago and I really enjoyed going the first couple month but now Ive been on the fence about cancelling my passes because compared to Universal its not as good. I feel like everything with Diseny has been on a decline.
I know it's become a reoccurring joke on here to say "Then CEO Michael Eisner" as being a bad apple for the company but looking at the theme park ticket prices it's amazing and shocking how amazingly stable and in someways stagnant the prices were, especially with all of the expansion. And then when Bob Iger came in how it suddenly ballooned in price. I have seen many interviews of both Michael Eisner and Bob Iger and this might be controversial for you George but I dare say I think Michael Eisner probably did more to keep things fair and accessible at the park for most people compared to Igner. Also, I find in interviews he genuinely seems like a nice, honest if flawed man where Iger just has this "business man, bean accountant, cold, snake oil skin" receptivness of him. I can't really articulate but Bob Iger just somehow makes me uncomfortable and unnerves me.
Eisner had the weirdest Disney moves where you can tell he wanted to expand the Disney brand and push it out of its box. With Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons. Notice that Kingdom Hearts’ best uses of the Disney brand were under him.
The magic bus is a hugeee mistake in removing. It’s a great way to make Disney go from gate to gate, build excitement, and make it less stressful. Every change they’ve made since 2019 has been for the worse.
I think your analysis was very on point and fair. Sooner or later this all will have to catch up with them. I think the real catalyst to what will give them a good scare would be the opening of Epic Universe; from all as it appears to be and from what I hear, they seem to be sleeping on it and don't consider it a threat, but then again, they probably didn't consider the Wizarding World a threat either until it opened and it completely blindsided them. I do hope it turns around soon. I had a lot of fun last time I visited but even we agreed there were a lot of issues that absolutely needed addressing and hopefully that time will come soon. What you say about the social media generation is absolutely right though -- I was really surprised when you brought up the comparison of new rides from 2000-2004 to 2020-2024. I had never thought of it that way. Good work on the video!
Bingo. They are shortsighted in general. They are in the process of losing generational fandom. The kids now aren’t going to have the same nostalgia for Disney when they become adults as previous generations.
Disneys current problem is their streaming service. Why go to the theaters if it comes to Disney + anyway? The result is that Disney has lately box office problem. But the problem goes even further. Because a streaming service needs a constant stream of content, Disney has to churn out subpar products. The result is that ips like marvel and star wars are now a shadow of their former selves. Disneys themeparks are the biggest moneymakers for Disney and a lot of their profits are used to prop up the rest of the company. Why do they get neglected? I don't know.
They also want to use Disney+ viewing figures and reviews to determine what rides should be in the parks, a terrifying prospect for those wanting original rides like those of old Epcot.
@@intothemagicthere will never be an original ride built ever again unfortunately. The general public don’t care, they only get attracted by the IP. It’s sad, but true!
It's also because of Disney constantly pushing their own politics into so much content that they put out. They don't want to tell a story, they want to push an IDEA. Look at the current slew of crap they put out last year. 2023 was significant: for the first time, Universal BEAT Disney in box office numbers. That's not good news for them...
Streaming is going to be outlawed by Uncle Sam. People will be required to go back to theaters. One of my first acts after taking over Disney will be to shut down Disney+ if it hasn't already been.
TBH, this video honestly feels like a breath of fresh air compared to most other Disney Parks discussion videos. It talks about the obvious flaws of the Disney Parks nowadays, but it also talks about how many things are being over-exaggerated. I myself am mainly a casual Disney Parks fan, and I only go about once or twice a year. I’ve seen the many changes over the years and I will agree that when Genie+ was introduced, things were getting more difficult and expensive. Hotel lobbies and rooms were being de-themed, IP overload of attractions (I mean I loved Pandora, Galaxy’s Edge, and Cosmic Rewind, but that’s because they were handled better than most other recent Disney Parks additions) I mean they are creating more advanced animatronics, thank goodness for that, but putting IP-based attractions in unfitting areas just to draw in crowds and overflow your parks is honestly just a recipe for disaster. And I especially like how you mentioned that this was nothing new, because this has happened before in Eisner’s later years. I mean Eisner wasn’t a bad CEO, he was just a fallen angel. Iger on the other hand……hoo boy where do I begin? While he did save Oswald, fix the relationship between Disney and Pixar, and restore California Adventure before Chapek decided to add Pixar Pier and Avengers Campus, a lot of his other scummy decisions and such, especially what he said during the strike last year, just proves that Iger was pretty much a demon in angel’s clothing. Though while Chapek made some worse decisions, all he was is just a major idiot compared to Iger. So long story short, while I don’t like what WDW is being transformed into, the reason I still go there is because I still love the place and prefer to see the good that comes out of it despite the crowds and overpriced park tickets, and I also try my best to appreciate what still is there since a lot is being replaced and such.
I think Disney should shift focus to renovations of existing buildings, attractions, scenery, restaurants, and shops. Journey into imagination (with figment) could be revitalized using old concept art, if they really want to uphold the ideals of "no idea every dies at Disney", and the ride could have scenes from the original but using modern technology and theming capabilities to make refreshed versions of scenes. It's a small world needs a renovation to fix animatronics and clean up and polish what is already there. Space mountain almost hurts to ride and should have it's track replaced. Spaceship earth is a loud clunky 2007 relic and needs to be updated using the most spectacular scenes from it's history and modern tech to tell the history of storytelling or communication. Instead of having all new attractions surrounded by outdated and unpolished rides, they should refresh the rest of the parks to match with the new rides. Refresh the surrounding areas too and get rid of the concrete jungle feel most of the park areas have.
As someone who was there October 1, 1971 to today, I've been countless times. I stopped going in the early 2000s (2004). After the purchase of Lucasfilm I decided correctly that the company had changed (died). Disney couldn't give me all of the money on the planet to step foot on the property. I couldn't bare to see the parks deteriorated to what they are today. So, I choose to visit down the road... even if I'm not saving any money. It's just a better experience...and mostly worry free, with very little anxiety over reservations and paying extra to ride attractions that you've already paid to ride with your admission ticket. Bottom line, if you're questioning whether you should visit WDW, my answer would be how badly do you want to have that experience? Because the answer to that may be more than you'd bargained for.
Shanghai had an exclusivity deal on the “Tron” roller coaster, as it was their version of Space Mountain. Honestly, that ride should have been exclusive to that park for a decade.
The issue really stems from Disney's other businesses. Pretty much everything other than the Parks has been a freaking disaster for Disney over the past couple of years: their movies have almost all massively disappointed at the box office, Disney+ has lost them hundreds of millions, their TV channels are losing subscribers (specifically ESPN), they're still saddled with $70B+ in 20th Century Fox debt, and, worst of all, their premier brands (Marvel, Star Wars, Disney Animation, and Pixar) have all taken a big hit in reputation in one way or another. Thus, the company ups the prices of the parks, which are major money generators, yet don't give the division the budgets nor effective leadership to keep it innovating.
Spent the last couple of days binging all of your videos. I was super excited to see this video just come out three hours ago! The biggest problem I have with Disney is it’s consistency in creating new rides that rely on 4D/VR elements instead of the old fashion rides like pirates.
My wife and 4yro son just got back yesterday. I did not go bc waiting in lines and crowds aren’t for me. But they had the time of their lives. Never seen them happier
I’ve been a Disney Passholder for years! And this will be the first year where I’m not renewing. Disney has become overpriced, poor quality, overcrowded, no perks, stressful and the theming is all over the place now. My parents have seen the parks change since opening day and even they both agree Disney’s falling tremendously. Universal is listening to fans, providing perks and specials, cohesive theming and lands at cheaper prices. I used to be able to ride almost every ride at magic kingdom in one day (until 2021) then it became much harder. Now on my last trip to magic kingdom (2023) all I could do was the railroad and laughfloor. It breaks my heart to see Disney become pathetic because they used to be so great. Disney all started with one man’s dream. Out of every update and new attraction Disney has done in the last 5 years the only one I actually love and enjoy is Guardians of the Galaxy Rewind. Guardians has the same re- ride ability as Flight of Passage. Everything else that was new I did it once and never wanted to do again. The Epcot overhaul was extremely disappointing. While I am excited for Tiana’s Bayou, I fear they won’t meet fans expectations and also it’s only a retheme not a whole new attraction. I wonder how long it will take for Universal to take over the number 1 spot because with the current rate, I feel it may be soon.
It doesn’t take a boomer mentality or anything like that to see that quality is degrading and cost is increasing across-the-board. Whether you were talking about theme park or otherwise.
At least Disneyworld gets new rides. Compare that to the studios park in paris that has only received bad clones and half baked ideas, or the main paris park that hasn't seen any new major rides since 1995, almost 30 years ago. In Paris, disney doesn't have to worry about big money competition from Universal. That's why they have left the paris resort with by far the worst dark ride lineup of any disney park.
We were annual pass holders in the Before times for years. We had a great run. Lots of trips and lots of fun. Now, it’s too expensive, too crowded and too complicated. We are done. Looking forward to Epic Universe!!!
I hope they provide some high capacity rides in the proposed expansion plans. Part of the crowd problem is Disney not doing much to increase capacity despite high attendance. Park expansions would definitely help but they desperately need rides that can eat up a lot of guests at a time. I love Guardians but they should have re-themed Ellen's Energy Adventure to something more modern instead cause that monster could hold SO many people at a time. Same with the Great Movie Ride. They replaced these extremely high capacity attractions with ones that have a significantly lower capacity without anything to account for the overflow. New shows would also help regulate some of the crowds as well. Disney has reduced a lot of their streetmosphere and entertainment options which leaves little for guests to do except rides, food, or shopping and that leads to long lines for pretty much anything. Do any of the parks other than MK even have parades anymore? Parades are a great way to manage crowds because lines tend to go down due to people choosing to watch the parade instead. Lastly, they need to invest more in maintenance because having rides constantly break down means capacity is lowered even MORE. Disney's operations are embarrassing right now due to Disney overworking and underpaying staff instead of hiring more workers and compensating their current workforce fairly. Cast Members have been less friendly lately cause a lot of them are being majorly burnt out with very little to show for it. The love of Disney magic can only sustain someone for so long if they're having trouble putting food on the table. A lot of cast members are having to live out of their cars due to high cost of living. Fixing these issues specifically would make the park experience much more enjoyable in my opinion.
The lines would move just fine without the fastpass. Go to sea world and fun spot then if you don’t want to pay the premier experience… they’ll treat you like royalty there lmao!
There are a lot of comments online that the reason why wait times have increased is because Disney has cut cast members time and reduced head count for many rides, in order to save money and maximize profits... And increase the used of Genie +. I can believe that, which is in part why I am never returning to WDW again.
Let's first talk about "The Rising Crowds" if Disney parks qualities are so low, why are the crowds SO high?? I remember going as a kid and being an AP holder as adult the crowds were never that bad, busy but never overwhelming....but Let's be real, AFTER the social media boom of 2015 and Pandemic, EVERYONE acts like they've never been to a Disney Park and HAVE TO GO just to post to social media.
I liked the highlighting of we’ve seen this kind of slump before, but at least for the time being, there doesn’t seem to be any motivation to compete with the opening of Epic Universe. If something doesn’t get announced this D23, the slump will likely continue until Iger is out. When will Disney get a CEO that actually leaves without ruining their reputation first?
When I worked for Magic Kingdom in 2010 a ticket to Magic Kingdom was $89.. 14 years later it's $180 for One Day. The food prices were about $9.99 for a hamburger and fries and now the same hamburger and fries are $15.49. gas is right now $3.60 a gallon where I am in Florida. I'm taking my GF for two days on vacation one day to Magic Kingdom and the next day to SeaWorld and we've already spent over $600. When we're done we will have spent almost $1000. Meaning $500 a day for two days at $250 per person per day. Disney is out pricing the middle class for the sake of catering to social media influencers, merchandise resellers and the rich.
I disagree with a lot of points in this video, but the “nothing ever happens vs stuff is always happening” argument is, by far, the one I disagree with most. The fact it took WDW 5 years to build Tron (which is a copy/paste attraction from Shanghai, mind you) while it’s taking Universal Studios Orlando 6 years to build an all-new, all-original multi-day theme park with Epic Universe is RIDICULOUS. And both have been under construction since before the pandemic.
The issue is, is people still go. The prices are clearly not putting enough people off to notice a drop in attendance. Sure, the old fans might be pissed off with the changes (like me) but new people are non the wiser. They don’t remember the days of free fast pass. Decent room rates. Free airport transfers. I went in May 2023 snd it was busier than 2018 and the same trip cost me almost 40% more because there was no free dining. I stayed at 2 bedroom villa in Saratoga springs for 14 days and it was £6000 with FREE FOOD in 2018! The exact same room now is nearly 10,000 with no free food. The crazy thing is, there’s no rooms left which means people are still paying it. Crazy!
I talked my father out of taking my two youngest cousins because I warned him not only about the insane prices but the possibility that they won't enjoy it. I suggested he wait until Epic Universal opens...😁
I grew up with WDW. Actually we used to live in SoCal so my first Disney was the original. When I was in my teens, if the wait time was over 20 minutes, we'd go to another attraction. Even back then we'd not do the parades or fireworks, preferring to be able to ride an attraction multiple times in quick succession- almost like 'ultra' special magic hours.
The last time I went to Disney was in 2012 I believe, and even back then the parks were packed and slow, long wait times, etc. I hate Disney just for that fact. I would be willing to pay more for a ticket if they lowered the capacity of the park
It's pretty bad. When my family and I went during spring break, there were at least two rides every day that we were either in line for or had a fastpass for broke down riiiight as we were about to get on. Sometimes it was three. On a bad day it was four. A majority of the broken rides were the 'a-tier' rides that everyone wanted to get on. My family and I are grateful for the fact that we can go to disney once a year, since it's close in location, but I can't imagine a once-in-a-lifetime trip for a family who spends a lot of time waiting for the best rides only to have them break the rest of the day. In a park like Animal, where there's only 7 rides functioning on a good day, it's not fair to families without parkhopper (which is now crazy expensive). It feels so moneyhungry now 😩
I kinda disagree, Magic Kingdom doesn't feel worth it anymore imo both in prices and what they offer. I'm still pissed off about Tiana replacing Splash Mountain, but i think in general the park feels stale and not worth the price, and now that Universal is opening epic universe i think I'd rather go there than Disney
These are large reasons why I'd rather go to Tokyo Disneyland. Generally the same price for both tickets and traveling to get there, they still have Splash and refuse to get rid of it (and in fact even upgraded it recently), and Disney will have to split my money evenly with the Oriental Land Company, lol.
I just went to both Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Yes, the prices were a little bit expensive but I wasn’t complaining. I actually enjoyed my time there and enjoyed the food.
Thank you for this. It’s great to see a theme park UA-camr for once call out the bad things about Disney theme parks right now, while also not sliding into total doomsday speak, recognizing the good attractions that have opened in recent years/the perks that Disney is at least slightly bringing back. I hate the extremes of “we can only talk positively about Disney” vs. the “everything sucks about Disney” that just keep being repeated again and again by Disney UA-camrs. I appreciate this more nuanced take on things, while also acknowledging that things like pricing, nickel and diming, crowding, etc. ARE bad. Very true about Disney cycles. Here’s to hoping they can swing upwards from this spiral- but agree, it’s not nearly as bad as some people will make it out to be (especially those with their own agenda, almost political at times).
I GOT IT! I GOT IT!!! Outside of the temple is a Paleontology site with dino bones. In the temple is an amulet that reanimates dead things. Indy tries to stop the bad guy but he uses the amulet to reanimated some Carnotaurus bones. The effect can be the same as the skeleton man turning in to a pirate on Pirates in Tokyo or Shanghai (one of them). The Carnatotaurus can chase you then goes back to bones at the end when Indy gets the amulet. That would be dope!!!
Florida resident here. Just got back home from 3 day trip. Spent $1,892 total for two nights at Pop Century Resort and 3 day passes to the parks and this includes food and drinks. We decided to save one of the park days for a later date. It is very expensive to go for that short amount of time.
As someone who only went for my first time in 2022, I can't speak to the different things that were free and included back then. What I can speak to is the sheer joy and excitement I get when I am at Walt Disney World. It is the only place where I feel like I am myself. When I went on my first trip for my thirtieth birthday in 2022, my Mom said my whole personality changed while we were there. For that, there is no price I would not pay. As long as I can afford it, and I continue to get that feeling, I will continue to go.
The biggest problem with Tiana specifically was that they put a lot of money in replacing Splash Mountain, which was still very popular, instead of adding capacity and rides. Nobody would have been mad if they added a Tiana ride. The reason it has become so widely debated is because it replaced something that didn't need replacing.
They have slowly dismantled the place of all of it’s traditional charm and magic, removing or “reimagining “and destroying many of the iconic rides/ shows in the parks while simultaneously creating a convoluted system of chaotic ride jockeying and price gouging.
As a recent casual visitor in Disney Tokyo...In fact, it bothered me a lot how inaccessible the best rides were just after a few hours in the morning, I couldn't really get into the attractions I was interested in like the one of Beauty and the Beast, or the haunted Mansion, the parades were phenomenal, but I entered very few interesting rides...like two. I hate that even to see the mascots you have to reserve a space, which sells out quickly, everything is simply more exclusive and complicated than when I went to Disney before ,more than a decade ago. It was very disappointed. And really made me feel as the magic of the place has gone. I would also recommend that if you want to go to Disney in Japan, go to Disney Tokyo, Disney Sea is like an Epcot only imitating Europe, the rides are cool but super short, and there are very few. There are no signs or anything like that to know where the lines go. And the parade, if you can call it that, consisted of about 6 mascots on a single boat appearing for about 5 minutes only.
@@rnettles6241They. Meaning a bunch of backward rednecks who spew hate every five seconds. Splash was iconic, for sure. It shouldn't have been replaced for ANY reason. But spitting and throwing up gay jokes and calling things "woke", is for ignorant mouth breathers who just like to complain.
The fact that Disney is repeating universal’s “too many screens in attractions” failures now is what concerns me personally. They’re making the same mistakes beat for beat
Disney’s main weakness is over expanding to quickly without thinking of maintaining its quality across countries to remain fresh. I believe they expect everyone who are diehard loyal to the brand to hop on whatever means of travel and visit Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai or Paris. They should’ve just remained an American entertainment industry. Universal barely over reach outside the United States, as Disney did.
We enjoy the parks but they get so crowded. One of my biggest complaints as someone from Texas who stays on property is the transportation nightmare. They cram us in like sardines on those busses (monorail/ferry). It's so bad!
We can't really complain about the parks being too expensive AND too crowded at the same time. When demands are too high, Disney only has two immediate choices 1) raise prices, 2) limit attendance. They are doing the first, and they had the reservation system to limit attendance that everyone hated. Not to mention is Disney trips are cheaper, even more people will go.
18:03 the "stacked" additions you alluded to were 3 videos that replaced existing videos, a show that replaced a show, a walkthrough "attraction" 2 clone attractions, 2 rethemes, a return of a pre-existing show, and one actual new ride. The worst point in this video by far.
Im going for my 5th time in November and im bringing my wife and step son who have never been... im very excited for them to experience Disney. Idc about costs, idc about the politics... Disney World puts on a great show. Im a master electrician, and when im not taking in the scenery, im looking at the workmanship, lighting and all of the custom stuff that it took to bring these areas to life via "magic" and i continue to be blown away by it all. Im often asking myself "okay... how the heck did they do that?" The part i look forward to the most is my family getting to see the fireworks show, especially at Magic Kingdom. As far as costs... ive been on more expensive vacations. As far as crowds and lines, it requires no more "studying" than any trip abroad.
i love this video so much. you bring up every point that ive been dying to hear about! thank you for bringing up the bad-faith crit, its extremely important to move away from "dead on arrival" people and toward the criticism that looks at actually built and operational rides and attractions. this goes really well with brightsunfilms' video on his personal vacations to disney cost analyses. extremely good watch!
I went to Disney World in 2003 for my Make A Wish trip. I haven't gotten an opportunity to go back since, but I've heard my fair share of horror stories. I do want to go back to see everything that's changed but with all the increased prices, idk when that will be.
Universal is getting better and better. It’s much easier to go. You can show up and just use the app to check wait times. You don’t need a battle strategy to get on a damn ride. Crowds aren’t insane as long as you’re not going during summertime. Tickets aren’t as expensive as Disney. Once Epic Universe opens, forget about it.
And the express pass is simpler than genie+. While it's pricy for the unlimited, you get every ride at any time as many times as possible. If you stay at a top resort you get it free with the room. And I think annual pass after a certain time of day can use their ticket either once per ride or as many times as possible.
I can't talk about universal Orlando but, here in California universal is better than your experience was in the 2000's. No reservation system, there's an actual off season resulting in shorter wait times, and the annual pass is reasonable for locals. The only downside is that Hollywood is a very small park compared to DLand or local favorite Knotts.
@@werewolflover8636 well Hollywood is the original. It was never meant to be a park where as Orlando was always intended to be one. USH wouldn’t exists as it does now (same with USF) if it wasn’t for the popularity of the Studio Tram Tour early on.
My family and I went back in october in florida and holy crap the crowds. We had 3 days at the parks and in that time we rode maybe 7 things. Trying to leave it was shoulder to shoulder in 96 degrees. People were hot and trying to get out, one lady took an empty stroller and started running people over with it to get through (she ran over my foot after id not sat once in 13 hours, It swelled horribly and im still having issues) and my kids were stuck without any airflow. It was such a bad experience compared to when I went way back in 2000 as a kid. I think the longest line we waited in was like, 3 hours, and the dumbo elephant ride was so backed up it didn't have a listed wait time, they were giving people pagers and having them sit and wait in some play place. Needless to say not even my kids wanted to wait for that when we already rode the aladdin carpet ride which is the same thing. Its so soul shattering to see whats happened to Disney as a whole. I was just waiting for a stampede or crush incident the entire time trying to leave. Save your money and go to universal, way less people and mostly air conditioned lines (even the shops at disney were horrifically stuffy snd hot. Ugh.
My problem with WDW is they need newer movies that relate better with children and rides related to those movies. Peter Pan, Ariel, and Winnie the Pooh are old.
Disney doesn't want you to leave satisfied anymore. They want you to only be able to go on 3 rides and hope that you're willing and gullible enough to come back to do it again.
In the Netherlands, we have the Efteling, very short wait times, high quality, very close to Disney, on some points even better, and only at $50,-. Waiting one hour for a ride seems criminal to me, your not paying to wait, so they should limit the max amount of visitors to keep the avarage wait time at 10min. If you want to earn more, you simply need to build more rides.
Disney World FEELS like it's getting worse because we've never paid so much for so little. Remember when extra magic hours gave all hotel guests a couple extra hours in the parks at night? Now, those are only available to guests staying at deluxe resorts...honestly, those guests should be grateful that's not a separately priced "perk" yet. Give it time! It's inevitable at this point.
Our last trip to Disney World was amazing. We always stay off-property on a neighboring golf course, which saves a ton on cost. I understand Genie+ isn't ideal for annual pass holders, but for folks who only take one Disney trip every year or two, Genie+ turned me into a theme park superhero. It was the most efficient trip in terms of being able to do everything we wanted that I've taken there since we had paper fast passes. I'd prefer that Disney would've copied Universal's Express Pass (high cost, less people buying, normalizes the standby queue), but Genie+ is a huge improvement over FastPass+, which was totally broken.
Disney started letting people finance their annual passes. They also took the slowest times in the park and turned them into months-long festivals and marathon days. Reducing ride wait times became an in-app purchase. These parks were built in the 70s and 80s with a US population of 200 million, not 350 million. And there’s your crowds and price hikes.
I went to Disney World (park hopper) on Monday, March 18, 2024. With the introduction of anti-consumer practices I was expecting a flawed visit. The last time I visited was in 2012. The weather forecast on the 18th was rain but it didn't drizzle. I refused to buy genie+ since the parks were empty that day. Online crowd calendars don't lie (around 7%). I rode Tower of Terror 6 times, along with: Runaway Railway x1 Rise of the Resistance x1 Smugglers Run x1 Guardians x2 Spaceship Earth x1 Test Track x1 Grand Fiesta Tour x1 Star Tours x1 The day was worth it but kinda sad at the same time. The removal of multi-level kinetics over the years is not a good look for Disney. Scrapping the fountain of nations was absolute craziness.
Yes. The fact that I don't want to pay for a ticket but I still have the Disney app on my phone and can see (1hr45m) WAIT TIME for every ride.. who the hell would want to go there in 2024? Disney needs to make serious changes, including a cutoff of the amount of people in the park
The enshittification of so many aspects of Disney is so sad. Such a legendary brand brought down by executive and shareholder greed. The main animation studio is not given enough budget nor time for movie development, the iconic experience of the parks brought down and paywalled, among other things. Not even the 100th anniversary of Disney as a whole eased this up! It was so goddamn underwhelming! How can you be an executive or a shareholder of Disney and not feel so goddamn ASHAMED that you deliberately ruined a once-in-a-lifetime historical milestone?!
I don’t want to take an amusement park vacation and have to study almost a year in advance to be able to enjoy myself. I took my Disney adult cousin to six flags and he was blown away by the lack of wait times and how cheap everything was. That is not a good sign for Disney.
@@sinisterkyrin There is a difference between planning and having to study changes to fast passes with Genie+ and constant alterations to perks and services. The fact that there is an entire media industry dedicated to tips and tricks for fast passes alone is crazy and means if you aren’t in the know or not good with tech you are gonna have a bad time. This isn’t a case of planning for a hotel or for when it is best to go. This is a system that has become so over encumbered with complication for the purpose of draining more money from people that you need to consult multiple guides and experts if you want to have fun.
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Add a fourth C for "complexity". Planning a WDW vacation is now a part-time job for all but the most experienced enthusiasts. How many guests show up for their dream vacation only to be blindsided by how many of the offerings are not accessible to them because they failed to nail down dining reservations months in advance, or weren't aware of the virtual queue system for the most popular attractions?
In all truthfulness, due to visiting from Australia during covid, having to calendarize when I could start looking for dining reservations (and finding most of the ones I wanted always gone), the cost and complexity of Genie Plus and Lightning Lane - I had a mini breakdown one day while in Epcot. I'm an EXPERIENCED theme park attendee and had been studying the new systems for months/years and even I found it too much. What sucks for a basic day guest is you cannot just choose in the morning to swing by WDW and visit a park and have a decent meal. It all has to be pre-planned months, if not a year in advance. That's a JOB, and I already have one of those.
This I agree with. You need to be up on all the tips. Days of showing up and winging it are over. Feel bad for older adults who aren’t use to that
Every time I've gone to WDW the past few years, it's been like this. It felt more like a job and a chore rather than having a fun outing with the family.
When we went to Universal, we just felt we could relax and walk around and enjoy ourselves. We've not gone back to WDW since.
i agree. i went for the first time two years ago and this was my least favorite part. it felt really hard to just “vibe”
I highly agree. Disney is the last place where I want to feel glued to my phone, but you kind of have to in order to get your ride reservations and such.
Too expensive, too crowded, attractions are always down, loss of perks, attitudes of both the cast members and customers are terrible, It's just not a very enjoyable time anymore.
Then go to sea world! You’ll enjoy those crowds they attract haha
I still think the Disney parks operations are some of the best of any park
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3odyeah you need to actually visit other parks then
@@HugeRMCFanBoY-bx3odDollywood has ever bit as good employees if not better! There’s a reason why it was once again named the Best Park in world by Golden Ticket!
I agree with you 100%. I went in 2023 and compared to the last time I went in 2012. WDW has really, really gone down the toilet. It's not just a few things that have gone wrong. but every thing has. It's just AWFUL down there.
i disagree with the sentiment that wdw was "always expensive".
my family started going...all the time...in the 80's and 90's. during that time, rooms were laughably cheap. tickets were cheaper than amusement parks like cedar point. food - burgers were on par with mcdonald's prices.
if anything, during that period, disney was underpriced.
Yeah something like 10 years ago moderate resorts were like $140-150/night during the "value time" (or whatever they called their slow period) and that was the rack rate, before any discounts which there always seemed to be 30% discounts.
Exactly! I was shocked with how much Browning insisted on nuance in this video, he grossly overlooked that.
It depends if flights were needed. Also, for that time, it was expensive relatively. Much cheaper than today, but still much more than a trip to Cedar Point or Great Adventure. You don't get the same atmosphere but a better ride selection. Heck Sea World offers a better coaster selection than Animal Kingdom has total rides.
Epic Universe will open with more rides than many Florida Disney parks have still, with the same level of theming. So why do Disney when a Universal pass offers more for the same/similar price?
That’s not an accurate way to look at it though, because the cost of all entertainment (especially theme parks and hotels/resorts which are Disney parks main competition) have all outpaced inflation.
Yes Disney has absolutely outpaced inflation but so has every comparable alternative
If crowding remains an issue, then that obviously means the parks are selling out regardless of cost. So why would Disney not continue raising prices?
Yeah it was “expensive” but like you said - you could make it work. Now it’s exorbitant! My Mom complained that she went to Thailand for the cost of going to Disney for 4 days. That’s insane.
The main issue I'm concerned about is that as prices continue to rise, some people will inevitably keep paying to go, meaning the issue wont just fix itself. Unfortunately, those with smaller incomes will become pushed away from Disney as they can no longer afford tickets, disney accommodation, Genie+, and general costs within the park.
Those unable to afford ever increasing Disney prices will miss seeing attractions that aren't working, overflowing trash bins, two hour plus wait times... I could go on, but the bottom line is I don't see where people who actually can afford to go to Disney are the winners here.
@@TJ347not sure what you’re talking about. Maybe this is true during the holidays but I have rarely seen rides at 2 hr waits and overflowing trash cans… I have seen rides closed but that is only their new rides and it usually doesn’t last long. Universal experiences the same issues and is just as expensive… people are just hating on Disney to hate on them.
Yep, it’ll just become a park for the wealthy.
Disney will be expanding capacity at Walt Disney World by sending guests over to Universal's Epic Universe.
Excellent - I love this!
@@tulinfirenze1990 From my understanding, the Hulu deal between Disney and Comcast/Universal will basically finance the construction of Epic Universe. Back during the post Euro Disney downsizing, Universal scooped up many Walt Disney Imagineers resulting in Universal's Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay. The altruism of the Walt Disney Company toward Universal is truly epic.
Ugh.. WHY?
As if Disney doesn't have enough money to make an actual solution, nope. Just ship the crowds out to another park
Walt AND Roy would be disgusted. They built these parks.
@@ZeranZeran Bob Iger's priority is to invest in the Asian parks and resorts, not Walt Disney World. If Florida tourists are unhappy with their Disney experience, they can visit Universal. But, if they want an authentic Disney experience, they can visit Asia.
@@david_walker_esq Yeah F that. Walt would punch him in the face
It's getting worse and more expensive because Disney has put it's focus on attracting higher income families to come to Disney world instead of it being centered on normal families.
Sadly this is happening with nearly all forms of entertainment, including movies, games, and special events. Corporations have learned that they can make more money off of the top 10% of families who overspend and have more time and money than they know what to do with.
@@WaddleDee105 This seems like something that could backfire on them
@@thatonerotom8999 It could, but companies always think short term profits over long term gains. Hopefully it backfires sooner than later.
They’re only able to get away with this cause they have no direct competition. Atleast not yet. Universal is getting close but it’s still not big enough to threaten Disney. A future business would have to be created that caters to lower income families that can provide a similar customer experince to Disney for less than half the price. That would cause Disney to start losing customers and they’d have to stop overpricing in order to compete.
It already did with that Star Wars "hotel".
Pay more, get less should really be Disney’s new motto
Fairy dust is a hell of a drug.
That is the motto incomplete. Im sure its, pay more, get less and the americans will overcrowd the park.
There's hope.
Disney is Dead, I am waiting for the New City of Jerusalem that comes down from Heaven, pray that your worthy to enter in.
For details about the happiest place read below:
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. [Rev 21:1-8 KJV]
@@rnettles6241lmao
@@DeaDlyCorpsE528I went last week and I saw more foreigners than Americans tbh
I think Disney has lost its creative integrity. Everything new has to be based on preexisting IP, nothing new or innovative at all like Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Journey Into Imagination, etc, no new characters unique to just the parks. Its become so tired and boring. Now the parks just feel like a large marketing machine like Six Flags.
Well Cindirella, Winnie the Poh, Peter Pan, sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio are all kind of IP
@@EugenioGrant I never said I was against IP in general. Its just the fact that its all they do these days with no originality. In the old days it was a balance between IP and original attractions.
I do agree about the IP overload, I mean my only exceptions are Pandora, Galaxy’s Edge, and Cosmic Rewind because they were either done right compared to other recent additions, or just found a way to fit in with the park. But everything else just seems…… unfitting and unnecessary.
I do see from where you come from, but that is just how Universal got its own footing and how they are going to take down Disney with Epic Universe
Hell they are even reviving the Dark Universe just for the theme parks, and yes we will get some non-IP attractions, but they're not the focus, their focus is on Super Nintendo World, Isle of Berk, Dark Universe and yet another Wizarding World zone
Yes, Disney had a philosophy decades ago about original attractions but they have to adapt to what the industry (and the public) are looking for, and if that means making more IP Lands and attractions, that is what they'll have to do to survive
@@itzKeizo no, they’re sticking to IP just to be safe and have guaranteed money makers. Because they’re too scared to take any risks and do anything new.
Now the Disney difference means getting nickeled and dimed
I commented in the UA-cam series DSNY newscast ideas to help budget the average Disney guest.
Lightning lane, buy two get one free.
My main one was ,Disney Express bussing from the Orlando Airport to Disney Springs no matter which Disney property, good neighbor, or area hotel you were staying. Guests can easily transfer by bus to their on property hotel, or boat ride to Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans, or Old Key West, or walk to Disney Springs good neighbor hotels. It will also be a fraction of a cost for rideshare to get from Disney Springs to their hotel, rather than the Orlando airport to their hotel.
On a separate note, I thought that advertising from the mid 2000s back was more meaningful and touching. Whereas now it just feels like another advertisement on TV. Disneys advertising draw used to be more captivating. The mid 1990’s “Remember the Magic” was a captivating example. It had its own theme song, and the guest emotions were genuinely captured on film that is genuine advertising.
And quartered and halfdollered
If a nickel is 50 dollars and a dime is 100 dollars.
@@juliezimmerman3476in GAY DADDY WHERE'S DADDY
Without anymore magic. It's become gutted
The quality of the park itself was never really an issue. The problem is that the quality you get is no longer worth the price you pay.
For example: I come from a family of 6, a bit larger than most, and that naturally makes vacations more expensive for us. In 2013, it cost us $5000 to go to Disney - expensive, but worth saving up for. Now, that vacation would easily exceed $10,000…and *no one* can justify spending that much on a single vacation, no matter how good it is.
I used to think I'd be able to afford a trip to disneyworld
And recently I've genuinely come to the conclusion I definitely never will and it's very disappointing
I went a few times a decade ago but I'm in a similar boat now. There's a ton of stuff I'd love to experience at Disney World that I either missed out on in the past or is relatively new but there's no way I can afford it.
The more time that passes the more I think Eisner got a bad wrap in the end. HALF of the most loved things of Disney were bc of Eisner. Eisner ran into problems when he lost his confidence and stopped thinking and doing BIG. He pushed the brakes when he should have gassed it, then sharks smelled blood in the water and attacked. I really am starting to think everything done after Eisner has been worse than the mistakes Eisner is remembered for. (And I have a deep hatred of California adventure so that is saying a lot). The mess Disney is in is 100% caused by post Eisner management. Disney is about greed and the bottom line now not magic and creativity like before.
100% agree. For all his flaws, at least Eisner had creativity and willingness to try new things which is something imo modern disney is really falling short on
i totally agree, not sure why this is an unpopular opinion.
I partly agree and I like the Eisner era, I like some of his decision-making (especially a lot of his creativity-first decision-making) and I prefer that era to the current era. At least Disney had a real identity at the time. Whereas now I see Disney Plus being advertised with The Kardashians. Which to me feels like the brand just doesn't mean anything anymore.
However, much of the good stuff during the Eisner era did not happen BECAUSE of Eisner, but in spite of him. Much of his reputation is unfair and negatively narrativized in hindsight. But much of it was fair too. His reign was a pretty mixed bag.
I just don't understand much of the adamant simping for Iger that is still happening compared to Eisner.
Am I the only person who thinks California Adventure is easily the best Disney park
Michael Eisner and Frank Wells were a great team. They balanced each other out and led the Disney decade in the 90s, undoubtedly the best WDW expansion in history. We’ll never see anything like that again.
Disney world used to be a fun well vacation, now it's so much work it's so confusing, it used to be a destination you could go and leave your stress at home and literally just experience the magic and recharge, now it's so much work and everything requires you full attention and you have to be on your phone constantly, it's all work and anxiety and ends up being more stress than the stress you had at home
Could not agree more, it is like being a phone slave all day, and even then it can be very wasteful and a disappointment. Nothing worse than playing with your phone to get the extra charges of gene-, then have the ride break down and they leave you in line for 30 minutes with zero recourse. It really happened to me and my son, twice in one day. Went to customer service (35 minutes in a slllooowww line) They gave me paper fast passes for lightening lanes to try to "fix" me. The workers at one of the places I used the paper pass actually said "Oh you are one of those!" Which caused others in the line to quiz me and my son on what did that mean!!!!! Horrible way to treat a guest, but I believe Disney thinks we are all marks now for taking money from. WCDB
Yes!
DVC member here, over the course of our ownership, time spent at Disney World property itself has drastically dropped. First blow was the elimination of Magical Express, which honestly led us to use cars either a rental or our own, which then led to Universal trips, which led to eventual Annual Pass purchase to Universal, which is a better value. Small penny pinching decisions by the Company lead to bigger loss, that is the cause of the downfall.
Getting rid of the Magical Express seems like crazy penny pinching, it can't possibly have been that expensive to run compared to the benefit of keeping people onsite.
More expensive, more complicated, more lines, and more stuff you have to do in the app. This might make me seem like a boomer, but the amount of time you have to stare at your phone is so much that you don't get to absorb the ambiance. I'm as addicted to my phone as anyone, but on vacation, I want to put my phone away.
They can turn it around, but they have to make some huge announcements at D23, or Iger needs to go.
I agree. I try my best to “be in the moment” but this new system makes it hard.
The FIRST thing they need to do is LOWER ticket prices. They'd rather slap their mothers 10 times than even CONSIDER that.
Well we got part of our wish, Iger is supposedly resigning by 2026.
The only way that Disney will improve is to stop with making everything a money grab, especially things that were included free with your admission such as fast pass. This is not Walt envisioned when he opened the parks long ago!
Not going to happen! Disney only cares about its stock and how much money it can make to show growth to its investors! Long as fools keep buying into their products and paying outrageous prices for it there’s no reason from them to reduce prices!
If Disney hadn’t started to nickle and dime me for visits I’d still be an out-of-state season pass holder for a family of 4.
Honestly, without all the post Covid changes I’d be ok with the ticket prices for what we used to get. Now, I spend a fraction elsewhere and have a better time with my family.
And for the record, while I’m sure Disney doesn’t care, we were spending 3-4K a trip in addition to $5,000 a year for passes. And we went 3-4 times a year. So yeah, we were fans who loved eating at the best restaurants and doing the mark up experiences across the board. Now, we spend less a year to visit Universal and other parks around the country than Disney cost us for 1 visit plus our passes.
So we’re getting the same number of vacations a year at a cost of around 40% of what we used to spend exclusively at Disney. And honestly, I’m glad Disney removed the value because it’s been more fun.
Bonus though, as we were such fans we have a great Disney rewards credit card. So since 2020 we did visit for 1 day last year, for free tickets and 80% of our meals paid for including a fine dinning sit down dinner at Epcot. As this allows us to spend an off day every few years to experience new attractions that’s great.
In 3 years or so, we’ll return for another day during an off day from Universal and their new park which I guarantee, we’ll be visiting next year for our 4th Universal week in an annual row. Yeah, Universal has become a must do annually for my kids. I think that says the most when 2 young kids prefer Universal over Disney when they don’t consider financial return whatsoever.
Re: competing in the next five years - i dont think they’ve got anything to compete with. They blew their wad on Galaxy’s Edge, they can’t build a Marvel land, and even if they had another franchise that would build as much buzz, they don’t have the creativity internally to pull it off.
As a working-class family in the 2000’s, in the UK, we used to be able to afford a two-week trip every two years with a dining plan. We always stayed at the moderate resorts and had some money spare to buy merchandise.
If I were to book a holiday now with the same plan, without spending money, the price is over double in real terms (and this is without spending money and tip money). It’s not a viable holiday option for many families anymore, even with scraping pennies together.
The last time I visited Florida was 2018, where I visited Universal. It came to be the only option where we could afford all the extras without being short for spending and tips.
It’s a shame that Disney continues to keep their customers digging in their pockets for services that used to be free, and services that certainly helped holidaymakers coming from abroad (cough cough magic express).
I would love to experience the new magic they’re adding to the park. It all looks amazing! However, it is no longer something I could comfortably afford, even with a decent salary.
With all the insane prices for everything at DW, I'm still baffled that the parks are still overcrowded.
Covid changed a lot of things. That’s for sure.
A significant number of these people are the kind who fit several categories:
A - They've never been but feel that it's a ritual and they HAVE to go at least once. They pay and go once. Done! The issue is that there are so many of this kind out there. It's a neverending thing.
B - They've been there before but they plan to throw in the towel. They go once. They KNOW it stinks. They know about all the issues that others have complained about for the last 2-3 years. But they still feel like getting one last trip in anyway.
C - They just won't admit reality. These are the ones who are the meanest, loudest, rudest you meet on vacation forums. They always get offended and shout when someone dares to criticize their precious Disney. They refuse to see reality: prices are outrageous (they claim it's because it's not cheap to run anything; then explain why rides keep breaking down and people are complaining that everything is being neglected? i.e. trash everywhere, lack of service, lack of maintenance, etc.).
They are enchanted and blinded by the pixie dust and will continue to spend spend and spend even if a ticket price hits $150 on a "low crowd day". And trust me, it will. I suspect many are recent fans who probably visited in the early 2000s just before things started going downhill. I've been twice: in 1988 and 2003. Even back in 2003, I noticed neglect in the parks: the track on the PeopleMover was already in very bad shape. The food wasn't great either and ticket prices were so steep I could only afford a 2 day ticket, not 3 days. Then in 2019, I TRIED to plan a vacation. The ticket prices FLOORED me. I gave up and went to Universal's website. It saved me about $500 just on ticket and hotel room. We're not including food and travel expenses. And I went alone. That means a family of 3 might have saved $1,200 going to Universal in 2020 instead of Disney! These kinds of superfans are the ones who will keep going even if Disney charged the earth for a measly ticket. I bet they account for a significant chunk of the crowds.
Where else CAN we go. Six Flags Atlanta is always down. If there's a single raindrop in the sky, everything goes down for hours because it keeps costs low.
Universal and Busch Gardens are fantastic @@bethocdunwitty6641
Last month, I went on Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway….the queue is DISGUSTING. Carpet is stained all over…when there is carpet. There are large sections where it’s threadbare…you can literally see the concrete.
And yet you've got tons of people here in the comment section complaining that they can't afford to have your experience.
God used his divine powers to give me a pass for the Guardians ride instead.
I was shocked at the state of facades in Fantasyland in 2017. Disneyland never looked so horribe.
I will say nothing has convinced me about the decline of Disney then Disney itself. I became a passholder about a year ago and I really enjoyed going the first couple month but now Ive been on the fence about cancelling my passes because compared to Universal its not as good. I feel like everything with Diseny has been on a decline.
It has. The employees are generally unfriendly and even rude too!
I know it's become a reoccurring joke on here to say "Then CEO Michael Eisner" as being a bad apple for the company but looking at the theme park ticket prices it's amazing and shocking how amazingly stable and in someways stagnant the prices were, especially with all of the expansion. And then when Bob Iger came in how it suddenly ballooned in price.
I have seen many interviews of both Michael Eisner and Bob Iger and this might be controversial for you George but I dare say I think Michael Eisner probably did more to keep things fair and accessible at the park for most people compared to Igner. Also, I find in interviews he genuinely seems like a nice, honest if flawed man where Iger just has this "business man, bean accountant, cold, snake oil skin" receptivness of him. I can't really articulate but Bob Iger just somehow makes me uncomfortable and unnerves me.
Eisner had the weirdest Disney moves where you can tell he wanted to expand the Disney brand and push it out of its box. With Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons. Notice that Kingdom Hearts’ best uses of the Disney brand were under him.
The magic bus is a hugeee mistake in removing. It’s a great way to make Disney go from gate to gate, build excitement, and make it less stressful. Every change they’ve made since 2019 has been for the worse.
I think your analysis was very on point and fair. Sooner or later this all will have to catch up with them. I think the real catalyst to what will give them a good scare would be the opening of Epic Universe; from all as it appears to be and from what I hear, they seem to be sleeping on it and don't consider it a threat, but then again, they probably didn't consider the Wizarding World a threat either until it opened and it completely blindsided them.
I do hope it turns around soon. I had a lot of fun last time I visited but even we agreed there were a lot of issues that absolutely needed addressing and hopefully that time will come soon. What you say about the social media generation is absolutely right though -- I was really surprised when you brought up the comparison of new rides from 2000-2004 to 2020-2024. I had never thought of it that way.
Good work on the video!
Short-term profits, long-term losses.
Bingo. They are shortsighted in general. They are in the process of losing generational fandom. The kids now aren’t going to have the same nostalgia for Disney when they become adults as previous generations.
Disneys current problem is their streaming service. Why go to the theaters if it comes to Disney + anyway? The result is that Disney has lately box office problem. But the problem goes even further. Because a streaming service needs a constant stream of content, Disney has to churn out subpar products. The result is that ips like marvel and star wars are now a shadow of their former selves.
Disneys themeparks are the biggest moneymakers for Disney and a lot of their profits are used to prop up the rest of the company. Why do they get neglected? I don't know.
They also want to use Disney+ viewing figures and reviews to determine what rides should be in the parks, a terrifying prospect for those wanting original rides like those of old Epcot.
@@intothemagicthere will never be an original ride built ever again unfortunately.
The general public don’t care, they only get attracted by the IP.
It’s sad, but true!
I agree and disagree. I was so disappointed in the Percy Jackson production. However, I did enjoy Loki and the Mandalorian.
It's also because of Disney constantly pushing their own politics into so much content that they put out. They don't want to tell a story, they want to push an IDEA. Look at the current slew of crap they put out last year. 2023 was significant: for the first time, Universal BEAT Disney in box office numbers. That's not good news for them...
Streaming is going to be outlawed by Uncle Sam. People will be required to go back to theaters. One of my first acts after taking over Disney will be to shut down Disney+ if it hasn't already been.
TBH, this video honestly feels like a breath of fresh air compared to most other Disney Parks discussion videos. It talks about the obvious flaws of the Disney Parks nowadays, but it also talks about how many things are being over-exaggerated.
I myself am mainly a casual Disney Parks fan, and I only go about once or twice a year. I’ve seen the many changes over the years and I will agree that when Genie+ was introduced, things were getting more difficult and expensive. Hotel lobbies and rooms were being de-themed, IP overload of attractions (I mean I loved Pandora, Galaxy’s Edge, and Cosmic Rewind, but that’s because they were handled better than most other recent Disney Parks additions) I mean they are creating more advanced animatronics, thank goodness for that, but putting IP-based attractions in unfitting areas just to draw in crowds and overflow your parks is honestly just a recipe for disaster.
And I especially like how you mentioned that this was nothing new, because this has happened before in Eisner’s later years. I mean Eisner wasn’t a bad CEO, he was just a fallen angel. Iger on the other hand……hoo boy where do I begin? While he did save Oswald, fix the relationship between Disney and Pixar, and restore California Adventure before Chapek decided to add Pixar Pier and Avengers Campus, a lot of his other scummy decisions and such, especially what he said during the strike last year, just proves that Iger was pretty much a demon in angel’s clothing. Though while Chapek made some worse decisions, all he was is just a major idiot compared to Iger.
So long story short, while I don’t like what WDW is being transformed into, the reason I still go there is because I still love the place and prefer to see the good that comes out of it despite the crowds and overpriced park tickets, and I also try my best to appreciate what still is there since a lot is being replaced and such.
I think Disney should shift focus to renovations of existing buildings, attractions, scenery, restaurants, and shops. Journey into imagination (with figment) could be revitalized using old concept art, if they really want to uphold the ideals of "no idea every dies at Disney", and the ride could have scenes from the original but using modern technology and theming capabilities to make refreshed versions of scenes. It's a small world needs a renovation to fix animatronics and clean up and polish what is already there. Space mountain almost hurts to ride and should have it's track replaced. Spaceship earth is a loud clunky 2007 relic and needs to be updated using the most spectacular scenes from it's history and modern tech to tell the history of storytelling or communication. Instead of having all new attractions surrounded by outdated and unpolished rides, they should refresh the rest of the parks to match with the new rides. Refresh the surrounding areas too and get rid of the concrete jungle feel most of the park areas have.
As someone who was there October 1, 1971 to today, I've been countless times. I stopped going in the early 2000s (2004). After the purchase of Lucasfilm I decided correctly that the company had changed (died). Disney couldn't give me all of the money on the planet to step foot on the property. I couldn't bare to see the parks deteriorated to what they are today. So, I choose to visit down the road... even if I'm not saving any money. It's just a better experience...and mostly worry free, with very little anxiety over reservations and paying extra to ride attractions that you've already paid to ride with your admission ticket.
Bottom line, if you're questioning whether you should visit WDW, my answer would be how badly do you want to have that experience? Because the answer to that may be more than you'd bargained for.
5+ years for Tron is inexcusable 😂
Universal is building an entire new park, hotels, roads and other infrastructure in less time. Disney is a freakin joke!
Boycott the company
Shanghai had an exclusivity deal on the “Tron” roller coaster, as it was their version of Space Mountain. Honestly, that ride should have been exclusive to that park for a decade.
The issue really stems from Disney's other businesses. Pretty much everything other than the Parks has been a freaking disaster for Disney over the past couple of years: their movies have almost all massively disappointed at the box office, Disney+ has lost them hundreds of millions, their TV channels are losing subscribers (specifically ESPN), they're still saddled with $70B+ in 20th Century Fox debt, and, worst of all, their premier brands (Marvel, Star Wars, Disney Animation, and Pixar) have all taken a big hit in reputation in one way or another. Thus, the company ups the prices of the parks, which are major money generators, yet don't give the division the budgets nor effective leadership to keep it innovating.
Spent the last couple of days binging all of your videos. I was super excited to see this video just come out three hours ago!
The biggest problem I have with Disney is it’s consistency in creating new rides that rely on 4D/VR elements instead of the old fashion rides like pirates.
18:43 thank you for the note in the corner, I wouldn't have known which one was you if you didn't tell me
Glad that cleared it up 🫡
My wife and 4yro son just got back yesterday. I did not go bc waiting in lines and crowds aren’t for me. But they had the time of their lives. Never seen them happier
I’ve been a Disney Passholder for years! And this will be the first year where I’m not renewing. Disney has become overpriced, poor quality, overcrowded, no perks, stressful and the theming is all over the place now. My parents have seen the parks change since opening day and even they both agree Disney’s falling tremendously. Universal is listening to fans, providing perks and specials, cohesive theming and lands at cheaper prices. I used to be able to ride almost every ride at magic kingdom in one day (until 2021) then it became much harder. Now on my last trip to magic kingdom (2023) all I could do was the railroad and laughfloor. It breaks my heart to see Disney become pathetic because they used to be so great. Disney all started with one man’s dream. Out of every update and new attraction Disney has done in the last 5 years the only one I actually love and enjoy is Guardians of the Galaxy Rewind. Guardians has the same re- ride ability as Flight of Passage. Everything else that was new I did it once and never wanted to do again. The Epcot overhaul was extremely disappointing. While I am excited for Tiana’s Bayou, I fear they won’t meet fans expectations and also it’s only a retheme not a whole new attraction. I wonder how long it will take for Universal to take over the number 1 spot because with the current rate, I feel it may be soon.
It doesn’t take a boomer mentality or anything like that to see that quality is degrading and cost is increasing across-the-board. Whether you were talking about theme park or otherwise.
TRUTH!
At least Disneyworld gets new rides. Compare that to the studios park in paris that has only received bad clones and half baked ideas, or the main paris park that hasn't seen any new major rides since 1995, almost 30 years ago. In Paris, disney doesn't have to worry about big money competition from Universal. That's why they have left the paris resort with by far the worst dark ride lineup of any disney park.
Compared to Disneyland, it's been removing rides
Why does this remind me so much of kings dominion
Unfortunately the quality and changes at Disney World have made our Disney visits a thing of the past.
We were annual pass holders in the Before times for years. We had a great run. Lots of trips and lots of fun. Now, it’s too expensive, too crowded and too complicated. We are done. Looking forward to Epic Universe!!!
I hope they provide some high capacity rides in the proposed expansion plans. Part of the crowd problem is Disney not doing much to increase capacity despite high attendance. Park expansions would definitely help but they desperately need rides that can eat up a lot of guests at a time. I love Guardians but they should have re-themed Ellen's Energy Adventure to something more modern instead cause that monster could hold SO many people at a time. Same with the Great Movie Ride. They replaced these extremely high capacity attractions with ones that have a significantly lower capacity without anything to account for the overflow. New shows would also help regulate some of the crowds as well. Disney has reduced a lot of their streetmosphere and entertainment options which leaves little for guests to do except rides, food, or shopping and that leads to long lines for pretty much anything. Do any of the parks other than MK even have parades anymore? Parades are a great way to manage crowds because lines tend to go down due to people choosing to watch the parade instead.
Lastly, they need to invest more in maintenance because having rides constantly break down means capacity is lowered even MORE. Disney's operations are embarrassing right now due to Disney overworking and underpaying staff instead of hiring more workers and compensating their current workforce fairly. Cast Members have been less friendly lately cause a lot of them are being majorly burnt out with very little to show for it. The love of Disney magic can only sustain someone for so long if they're having trouble putting food on the table. A lot of cast members are having to live out of their cars due to high cost of living.
Fixing these issues specifically would make the park experience much more enjoyable in my opinion.
The lines would move just fine without the fastpass. Go to sea world and fun spot then if you don’t want to pay the premier experience… they’ll treat you like royalty there lmao!
There are a lot of comments online that the reason why wait times have increased is because Disney has cut cast members time and reduced head count for many rides, in order to save money and maximize profits... And increase the used of Genie +. I can believe that, which is in part why I am never returning to WDW again.
Let's first talk about "The Rising Crowds" if Disney parks qualities are so low, why are the crowds SO high?? I remember going as a kid and being an AP holder as adult the crowds were never that bad, busy but never overwhelming....but Let's be real, AFTER the social media boom of 2015 and Pandemic, EVERYONE acts like they've never been to a Disney Park and HAVE TO GO just to post to social media.
I liked the highlighting of we’ve seen this kind of slump before, but at least for the time being, there doesn’t seem to be any motivation to compete with the opening of Epic Universe. If something doesn’t get announced this D23, the slump will likely continue until Iger is out. When will Disney get a CEO that actually leaves without ruining their reputation first?
When I worked for Magic Kingdom in 2010 a ticket to Magic Kingdom was $89.. 14 years later it's $180 for One Day. The food prices were about $9.99 for a hamburger and fries and now the same hamburger and fries are $15.49. gas is right now $3.60 a gallon where I am in Florida. I'm taking my GF for two days on vacation one day to Magic Kingdom and the next day to SeaWorld and we've already spent over $600. When we're done we will have spent almost $1000. Meaning $500 a day for two days at $250 per person per day. Disney is out pricing the middle class for the sake of catering to social media influencers, merchandise resellers and the rich.
I disagree with a lot of points in this video, but the “nothing ever happens vs stuff is always happening” argument is, by far, the one I disagree with most. The fact it took WDW 5 years to build Tron (which is a copy/paste attraction from Shanghai, mind you) while it’s taking Universal Studios Orlando 6 years to build an all-new, all-original multi-day theme park with Epic Universe is RIDICULOUS. And both have been under construction since before the pandemic.
Plus hotels, roads and massive infrastructure.
Babe wake up, the GOAT just posted again
The issue is, is people still go.
The prices are clearly not putting enough people off to notice a drop in attendance.
Sure, the old fans might be pissed off with the changes (like me) but new people are non the wiser.
They don’t remember the days of free fast pass. Decent room rates. Free airport transfers.
I went in May 2023 snd it was busier than 2018 and the same trip cost me almost 40% more because there was no free dining.
I stayed at 2 bedroom villa in Saratoga springs for 14 days and it was £6000 with FREE FOOD in 2018!
The exact same room now is nearly 10,000 with no free food.
The crazy thing is, there’s no rooms left which means people are still paying it. Crazy!
At this point you’re better off going to international parks like Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris and Hong Kong. Better quality
We used to go every 3-4 years or so. It has 100% lost its magic. Even my daughter said she doesn’t want to go back.
I talked my father out of taking my two youngest cousins because I warned him not only about the insane prices but the possibility that they won't enjoy it. I suggested he wait until Epic Universal opens...😁
Going to be very interesting what if anything is announced at D23 Expo this year
I think D23 is going to be super important for Disney this year, and I'm really hopeful that they do have some impressive stuff to offer.
I grew up with WDW. Actually we used to live in SoCal so my first Disney was the original. When I was in my teens, if the wait time was over 20 minutes, we'd go to another attraction. Even back then we'd not do the parades or fireworks, preferring to be able to ride an attraction multiple times in quick succession- almost like 'ultra' special magic hours.
I've been wondering about that lately.
I spent $5,000 on my recent trip (I saved for a long time). And that was just for me and my boyfriend. I can’t imagine a literal family going…
I just went to WDW over the weekend. I’ve been going for almost two decades. The magic has sadly been disappearing
I was just there on Wednesday and I felt like there was still some magic. I don’t know is that just me?
Maybe it's because you've been going for over 20 years? Anyone would tired of something if they did it for that long.
@@voxicwaste I just meant that with everything being monetized
The last time I went to Disney was in 2012 I believe, and even back then the parks were packed and slow, long wait times, etc. I hate Disney just for that fact. I would be willing to pay more for a ticket if they lowered the capacity of the park
It's pretty bad. When my family and I went during spring break, there were at least two rides every day that we were either in line for or had a fastpass for broke down riiiight as we were about to get on. Sometimes it was three. On a bad day it was four. A majority of the broken rides were the 'a-tier' rides that everyone wanted to get on. My family and I are grateful for the fact that we can go to disney once a year, since it's close in location, but I can't imagine a once-in-a-lifetime trip for a family who spends a lot of time waiting for the best rides only to have them break the rest of the day. In a park like Animal, where there's only 7 rides functioning on a good day, it's not fair to families without parkhopper (which is now crazy expensive). It feels so moneyhungry now 😩
I kinda disagree, Magic Kingdom doesn't feel worth it anymore imo both in prices and what they offer. I'm still pissed off about Tiana replacing Splash Mountain, but i think in general the park feels stale and not worth the price, and now that Universal is opening epic universe i think I'd rather go there than Disney
I will probably only ride the new splash mountain once, like when they ruined maelstrom.
These are large reasons why I'd rather go to Tokyo Disneyland. Generally the same price for both tickets and traveling to get there, they still have Splash and refuse to get rid of it (and in fact even upgraded it recently), and Disney will have to split my money evenly with the Oriental Land Company, lol.
none of the parks are worth the price maybe debatably Epcot
I just went to both Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Yes, the prices were a little bit expensive but I wasn’t complaining. I actually enjoyed my time there and enjoyed the food.
Thank you for this. It’s great to see a theme park UA-camr for once call out the bad things about Disney theme parks right now, while also not sliding into total doomsday speak, recognizing the good attractions that have opened in recent years/the perks that Disney is at least slightly bringing back.
I hate the extremes of “we can only talk positively about Disney” vs. the “everything sucks about Disney” that just keep being repeated again and again by Disney UA-camrs. I appreciate this more nuanced take on things, while also acknowledging that things like pricing, nickel and diming, crowding, etc. ARE bad. Very true about Disney cycles.
Here’s to hoping they can swing upwards from this spiral- but agree, it’s not nearly as bad as some people will make it out to be (especially those with their own agenda, almost political at times).
As someone who has binged your videos over the last 4 days, i admire your ability to bring Micheal Eisner in every single video.
I GOT IT! I GOT IT!!! Outside of the temple is a Paleontology site with dino bones. In the temple is an amulet that reanimates dead things. Indy tries to stop the bad guy but he uses the amulet to reanimated some Carnotaurus bones. The effect can be the same as the skeleton man turning in to a pirate on Pirates in Tokyo or Shanghai (one of them). The Carnatotaurus can chase you then goes back to bones at the end when Indy gets the amulet. That would be dope!!!
Florida resident here. Just got back home from 3 day trip. Spent $1,892 total for two nights at Pop Century Resort and 3 day passes to the parks and this includes food and drinks. We decided to save one of the park days for a later date. It is very expensive to go for that short amount of time.
As someone who only went for my first time in 2022, I can't speak to the different things that were free and included back then. What I can speak to is the sheer joy and excitement I get when I am at Walt Disney World. It is the only place where I feel like I am myself. When I went on my first trip for my thirtieth birthday in 2022, my Mom said my whole personality changed while we were there. For that, there is no price I would not pay. As long as I can afford it, and I continue to get that feeling, I will continue to go.
The biggest problem with Tiana specifically was that they put a lot of money in replacing Splash Mountain, which was still very popular, instead of adding capacity and rides. Nobody would have been mad if they added a Tiana ride. The reason it has become so widely debated is because it replaced something that didn't need replacing.
They have slowly dismantled the place of all of it’s traditional charm and magic, removing or “reimagining “and destroying many of the iconic rides/ shows in the parks while simultaneously creating a convoluted system of chaotic ride jockeying and price gouging.
As a recent casual visitor in Disney Tokyo...In fact, it bothered me a lot how inaccessible the best rides were just after a few hours in the morning, I couldn't really get into the attractions I was interested in like the one of Beauty and the Beast, or the haunted Mansion, the parades were phenomenal, but I entered very few interesting rides...like two. I hate that even to see the mascots you have to reserve a space, which sells out quickly, everything is simply more exclusive and complicated than when I went to Disney before ,more than a decade ago. It was very disappointed. And really made me feel as the magic of the place has gone. I would also recommend that if you want to go to Disney in Japan, go to Disney Tokyo, Disney Sea is like an Epcot only imitating Europe, the rides are cool but super short, and there are very few. There are no signs or anything like that to know where the lines go. And the parade, if you can call it that, consisted of about 6 mascots on a single boat appearing for about 5 minutes only.
They're not mascots, they're characters. And your description of Tokyo DisneySEA being like Europe is completely false.
And no one wanted a retheme to Splash Mountain, which is why it's getting so much hate even before the ride is even open.
Or u lot are just racist
They call it, "Broke Back Mountain" now.
@@rnettles6241They. Meaning a bunch of backward rednecks who spew hate every five seconds. Splash was iconic, for sure. It shouldn't have been replaced for ANY reason. But spitting and throwing up gay jokes and calling things "woke", is for ignorant mouth breathers who just like to complain.
Your videos are so nuanced! Love hearing your thoughts and opinions!
The fact that Disney is repeating universal’s “too many screens in attractions” failures now is what concerns me personally. They’re making the same mistakes beat for beat
Disney’s main weakness is over expanding to quickly without thinking of maintaining its quality across countries to remain fresh. I believe they expect everyone who are diehard loyal to the brand to hop on whatever means of travel and visit Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai or Paris. They should’ve just remained an American entertainment industry. Universal barely over reach outside the United States, as Disney did.
We enjoy the parks but they get so crowded. One of my biggest complaints as someone from Texas who stays on property is the transportation nightmare. They cram us in like sardines on those busses (monorail/ferry). It's so bad!
We can't really complain about the parks being too expensive AND too crowded at the same time. When demands are too high, Disney only has two immediate choices 1) raise prices, 2) limit attendance. They are doing the first, and they had the reservation system to limit attendance that everyone hated. Not to mention is Disney trips are cheaper, even more people will go.
18:03 the "stacked" additions you alluded to were 3 videos that replaced existing videos, a show that replaced a show, a walkthrough "attraction" 2 clone attractions, 2 rethemes, a return of a pre-existing show, and one actual new ride. The worst point in this video by far.
Im going for my 5th time in November and im bringing my wife and step son who have never been... im very excited for them to experience Disney. Idc about costs, idc about the politics... Disney World puts on a great show. Im a master electrician, and when im not taking in the scenery, im looking at the workmanship, lighting and all of the custom stuff that it took to bring these areas to life via "magic" and i continue to be blown away by it all. Im often asking myself "okay... how the heck did they do that?" The part i look forward to the most is my family getting to see the fireworks show, especially at Magic Kingdom. As far as costs... ive been on more expensive vacations. As far as crowds and lines, it requires no more "studying" than any trip abroad.
Those of us who budget do care.
literally bro its still fun to go there 💀
i love this video so much. you bring up every point that ive been dying to hear about! thank you for bringing up the bad-faith crit, its extremely important to move away from "dead on arrival" people and toward the criticism that looks at actually built and operational rides and attractions. this goes really well with brightsunfilms' video on his personal vacations to disney cost analyses. extremely good watch!
I went to Disney World in 2003 for my Make A Wish trip. I haven't gotten an opportunity to go back since, but I've heard my fair share of horror stories. I do want to go back to see everything that's changed but with all the increased prices, idk when that will be.
Universal is getting better and better. It’s much easier to go. You can show up and just use the app to check wait times. You don’t need a battle strategy to get on a damn ride. Crowds aren’t insane as long as you’re not going during summertime. Tickets aren’t as expensive as Disney. Once Epic Universe opens, forget about it.
And the express pass is simpler than genie+. While it's pricy for the unlimited, you get every ride at any time as many times as possible. If you stay at a top resort you get it free with the room. And I think annual pass after a certain time of day can use their ticket either once per ride or as many times as possible.
Looks like another dark age for Disney, but will they make it out of this one?
I have no desire to ever return to Walt Disney World in Florida. It's been ruined.
I can't talk about universal Orlando but, here in California universal is better than your experience was in the 2000's. No reservation system, there's an actual off season resulting in shorter wait times, and the annual pass is reasonable for locals. The only downside is that Hollywood is a very small park compared to DLand or local favorite Knotts.
Universal Orlando doesn’t have any kind of reservation system and it’s also 100% better than their half-assed park in Hollywood.
@@werewolflover8636 well Hollywood is the original. It was never meant to be a park where as Orlando was always intended to be one. USH wouldn’t exists as it does now (same with USF) if it wasn’t for the popularity of the Studio Tram Tour early on.
My family and I went back in october in florida and holy crap the crowds. We had 3 days at the parks and in that time we rode maybe 7 things. Trying to leave it was shoulder to shoulder in 96 degrees. People were hot and trying to get out, one lady took an empty stroller and started running people over with it to get through (she ran over my foot after id not sat once in 13 hours, It swelled horribly and im still having issues) and my kids were stuck without any airflow. It was such a bad experience compared to when I went way back in 2000 as a kid. I think the longest line we waited in was like, 3 hours, and the dumbo elephant ride was so backed up it didn't have a listed wait time, they were giving people pagers and having them sit and wait in some play place. Needless to say not even my kids wanted to wait for that when we already rode the aladdin carpet ride which is the same thing.
Its so soul shattering to see whats happened to Disney as a whole. I was just waiting for a stampede or crush incident the entire time trying to leave.
Save your money and go to universal, way less people and mostly air conditioned lines (even the shops at disney were horrifically stuffy snd hot. Ugh.
My problem with WDW is they need newer movies that relate better with children and rides related to those movies. Peter Pan, Ariel, and Winnie the Pooh are old.
Disney is opening new attractions, they are repurposing old ones (that were honestly better before)
Disney doesn't want you to leave satisfied anymore. They want you to only be able to go on 3 rides and hope that you're willing and gullible enough to come back to do it again.
I feel the govt will have to step in on these “surge prices” that loads of companies are taking advantage of
In the Netherlands, we have the Efteling, very short wait times, high quality, very close to Disney, on some points even better, and only at $50,-. Waiting one hour for a ride seems criminal to me, your not paying to wait, so they should limit the max amount of visitors to keep the avarage wait time at 10min. If you want to earn more, you simply need to build more rides.
Disney World FEELS like it's getting worse because we've never paid so much for so little. Remember when extra magic hours gave all hotel guests a couple extra hours in the parks at night? Now, those are only available to guests staying at deluxe resorts...honestly, those guests should be grateful that's not a separately priced "perk" yet. Give it time! It's inevitable at this point.
Pay to park was my last straw in 2019. I was staying on Disney grounds!! I WILL NEVER GO BACK!!!
Our last trip to Disney World was amazing. We always stay off-property on a neighboring golf course, which saves a ton on cost. I understand Genie+ isn't ideal for annual pass holders, but for folks who only take one Disney trip every year or two, Genie+ turned me into a theme park superhero. It was the most efficient trip in terms of being able to do everything we wanted that I've taken there since we had paper fast passes. I'd prefer that Disney would've copied Universal's Express Pass (high cost, less people buying, normalizes the standby queue), but Genie+ is a huge improvement over FastPass+, which was totally broken.
My parents are surprised I stopped taking annual trips to WDW. This is why.
When Bob Iger became the CEO of Walt Disney Company I saw him as nothing but a show off
When we went to disney and universal back in the late 80s into the 90s we had a 120 min wait line
Disney started letting people finance their annual passes. They also took the slowest times in the park and turned them into months-long festivals and marathon days. Reducing ride wait times became an in-app purchase. These parks were built in the 70s and 80s with a US population of 200 million, not 350 million. And there’s your crowds and price hikes.
I went to Disney World (park hopper) on Monday, March 18, 2024. With the introduction of anti-consumer practices I was expecting a flawed visit. The last time I visited was in 2012. The weather forecast on the 18th was rain but it didn't drizzle. I refused to buy genie+ since the parks were empty that day. Online crowd calendars don't lie (around 7%).
I rode Tower of Terror 6 times, along with:
Runaway Railway x1
Rise of the Resistance x1
Smugglers Run x1
Guardians x2
Spaceship Earth x1
Test Track x1
Grand Fiesta Tour x1
Star Tours x1
The day was worth it but kinda sad at the same time. The removal of multi-level kinetics over the years is not a good look for Disney. Scrapping the fountain of nations was absolute craziness.
Yes. The fact that I don't want to pay for a ticket but I still have the Disney app on my phone and can see (1hr45m) WAIT TIME for every ride.. who the hell would want to go there in 2024? Disney needs to make serious changes, including a cutoff of the amount of people in the park
The enshittification of so many aspects of Disney is so sad. Such a legendary brand brought down by executive and shareholder greed. The main animation studio is not given enough budget nor time for movie development, the iconic experience of the parks brought down and paywalled, among other things. Not even the 100th anniversary of Disney as a whole eased this up! It was so goddamn underwhelming! How can you be an executive or a shareholder of Disney and not feel so goddamn ASHAMED that you deliberately ruined a once-in-a-lifetime historical milestone?!
I’m obsessed with “I’m on the left” on the pic with SpongeBob
I don’t want to take an amusement park vacation and have to study almost a year in advance to be able to enjoy myself. I took my Disney adult cousin to six flags and he was blown away by the lack of wait times and how cheap everything was. That is not a good sign for Disney.
@@sinisterkyrin
There is a difference between planning and having to study changes to fast passes with Genie+ and constant alterations to perks and services. The fact that there is an entire media industry dedicated to tips and tricks for fast passes alone is crazy and means if you aren’t in the know or not good with tech you are gonna have a bad time.
This isn’t a case of planning for a hotel or for when it is best to go. This is a system that has become so over encumbered with complication for the purpose of draining more money from people that you need to consult multiple guides and experts if you want to have fun.